• @[email protected]
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    1378 months ago

    The US can remotely disable them whenever they damn well please anyway, and can not be trusted not to.

    Everyone should be canceling their orders immediately, and disable the remote access capabilities to the ones they have.

    • @[email protected]
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      338 months ago

      Has it actually been confirmed they can do this? I would assume they backdoor them, but usually backdoors are secret.

      • Shadow
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        398 months ago

        They require software updates for every mission, that are distributed from the US.

        You can probably fly / use it without those, but you lose all the advanced command & control features

          • Brumefey
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            118 months ago

            « You need to take off RIGHT NOW! » « I can’t . Upgrade in progress ! »

            • @[email protected]
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              138 months ago

              Post on TechHelp:

              "I keep hearing the missile connecting and disconnecting.

              Has anyone got the latest driver for a Sidewinder AIM-9L?"

      • @[email protected]
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        8 months ago

        Some high ranking US intelligence dude said something along the lines of that yeah. I dont think anyone has hacked into one of them to check or reverse engineer the code tho.

        • @[email protected]
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          28 months ago

          It’s several millions of lines of code, and it gets a lot harder to follow once compiled, so that would be a big project.

  • @[email protected]
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    608 months ago

    American here. Who cares if it provokes Trump? Actions have consequences. Canada helped out a lot during 911. What did we do? Prove to be an unreliable partner

  • @[email protected]
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    568 months ago

    With tariffs hammering F-35 sales, I expect the next Eurofighter project will have a lot more resources. I wonder if Canada will get involved.

    • @[email protected]
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      458 months ago

      Sweden also offered to get us building our own Gripens totally locally. The page for the bid is even still up

      I assume we already have pilots trained in flying the F-35 at this point, which sucks if we’re never getting them, though.

        • HellsBelle
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          8 months ago

          Especially since the Americans are the ones who convinced us they had enough fighter jets to take care of us so we could/should cancel the Arrow. :/

          • @[email protected]
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            18 months ago

            I mean, there was also the issue of it just costing a lot as the Diefenbaker conservative government was looking to make cuts.

      • barbarossa
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        108 months ago

        Absolute bozo move to not go for this in retrospect. They need to give this a look again asap

        • @[email protected]
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          8 months ago

          If I had hair, I definitely would have been pulling it out at the time. It’s not like this situation came out of nowhere, but normalcy bias won the day.

  • @[email protected]
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    508 months ago

    Any NATO member increasing their military spending would be idiotic to spend their money with US-based companies.

  • @[email protected]
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    398 months ago

    Nah, y’all should accept delivery then refuse to pay. Give him a taste of his own medicine.

    • @[email protected]
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      428 months ago

      So take the planes, send Trump the bill, when he acts confused you tell him he should really be more grateful about this

    • @[email protected]
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      8 months ago

      I mean, without American replacement parts I don’t know how flyable they are. Stiffing the US on something is an option for next play, though.

      Edit: So, correction. Interestingly it looks like the US is actually dependent on others for parts itself, and Japan has a good helping of all the parts in the whole plane being built domestically, so maybe not all is lost there. (This link looks legit, but disclaimer that I’m unfamiliar with it and you can’t always tell at a glance post-AI)

      That being said, the software is definitely closed-source, and all their design.

  • @[email protected]
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    8 months ago

    100% TODAY! Do not pay a fucking dime of any amount owing for these. (good job on Globe and Mail for a change)

    FYI, the Israeli version of F35 does not have this “US permission for every flight required”

    F35 is a POS plane, with low uptime, in addition to “broken ownership”. Even US military does not get manuals on how to repair/maintain them and must hire Lockheed consultants to do the job. The whole program was a boondoggle to pay Lockheed the most money possible instead of getting good military equipment, and any corrupt POS that was involved in approving this purchase for Canada should be jailed for treason.

    • @[email protected]
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      8 months ago

      There’s nothing stopping Canada from getting the manuals and patching the software. Most of the FUD about it’s performance abilities is propaganda. So getting them and just locking out Lockheed and the US would be a pretty good middle finger too.

      • @[email protected]
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        78 months ago

        The performance metrics are criticisize by US military journals.

        There’s nothing stopping Canada from getting the manuals and patching the software.

        If US military can’t get them or patch the software, Canada can’t either. Israel is special for not putting up with US BS.

        • @[email protected]
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          28 months ago

          I haven’t seen that. I’ve only seen blogs saying stuff. And if you have the literal hardware in your hands then changing the software isn’t going to be hard as a country.

          • @[email protected]
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            38 months ago

            8m lines of source code for F35 OS, afaiu. Vendor is intentionally crippling your access/functionality, and USMCA calls that “proper pro business attitude”. Again, Lockheed has accomodated Israel in not crippling their version. It’s not as though you have open source hardware to which to code your own OS ontop.

            Only dumping the POS is appropriate. Call it a negotiation position.

          • @[email protected]
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            28 months ago

            Ah okay. But that spreads the worry without diluting it. Are the people who didn’t check the box “don’t drown the pilot” on the raptor q/a form also now on the fluffy-Amy team? What kind of drunken shenanigans can we anticipate?

  • @[email protected]
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    388 months ago

    The aircraft has significant security risks for sure and makes sense to cancel. But canceling the order won’t be on Trump’s radar unless it affects his inner circle of evil billionaires who have funneled dark money to him.

  • @[email protected]
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    358 months ago

    Goddamn right we should. Take the French up on the offer to build the Rafale here. Or the Swedes. And get a few demo units for short term.

    Fuck 'em on any cancellation fees too. Consider it partial compensation for the ridiculous trade war.

    • @[email protected]
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      38 months ago

      There was an article last week discussing how that plane calls home every day and that it can be blocked by the Americans. They can shut all of them down within 24 hours.

      Time to nope right out of that contract.

    • @[email protected]
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      -38 months ago

      None of those airplanes even have similar capabilities. Why do you think the entirety of Europe has ordered so many F-35.

      The only alternative is to wait 15+(realistically 20+) years for a 6gen plane from Europe. And with the alliance dying, who knows how much longer it will take now

      Rafale and Gripen are more expensive and in many ways, less good. There is a reason why noone is buying them, or even if they did, they still want to buy more F-35.

      • @[email protected]
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        68 months ago

        Both are cheaper than F35… Do you have an access to the internet? The reason people were buying US planes is they thought the US walked the talk. They clearly don’t, so they won’t sell those anymore.

      • @[email protected]
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        58 months ago

        F35 is far more expensive to operate, so you end up paying more over the lifetime if you actually use it.

        Of course the other aircraft don’t have a bunch of fancy features of the F35, but maybe we don’t need them, particularly in light of the US hostility and unpredictability. And the benefit of building our own is a factor as well.

        As I undertand it, the F35 has only about 55% readiness and suffers SW problems as well.

        The US is not the only game in town, and we need to be clear about that.

        • @[email protected]
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          8 months ago

          It is a little princessy(what stealth aircraft isnt) but it doesnt cost that much to run. It only requires specialized facilities.

          F-35 readiness is on par with other comparable planes and will only get better (superior to other fighters) the more infrastructure is built. You would be shocked if you saw the readiness levels of other planes but that doesnt sell.

          It is important to note that much of the bad reputation of the f-35 is because

          1. Outdated data from early development of the plane. The F-16(or any plane), the (currently) cheap, reliable and available workhorse had an even worse start.
          2. Because there is free press in the West, you hear about everything that goes wrong. This is not the case for planes from authoritarian countries.
          3. A lot of the misinformation comes and/or is amplified literally from enemy state propaganda.
          4. A lot of the issues of the F-35 are about the vertical takeoff variant(F-35B). Or about a new updated version(block) of the F-35 that is still in testing.
          5. “F-35 bad” is(though less so nowadays) an internet meme. I am still waiting for the internet to explain how this terrible fighter can do 20 to 1 kill ratio vs non stealth planes in exercises.

          Ask yourself why is the F-35 the best selling fighter. Why is noone buying F-15, F-18 or F-16. Those planes still sell but on much more limited quantities and mostly because F-35 production cant catch up with demand(or because not all american allies are allowed to buy the F-35).

          Now obviously if America is hostile to Europe, shit is gonna get really weird. While the Rafale and Gripen are capable planes, they cannot replace the F-35.

          Look what is happening in Ukraine. The air space is extremely hostile to non stealth planes. This is the kind of environment that the F-35 can fight in, though ideally you want B2 to bomb most antiair defenses. Non stealth aircraft can fight too but it is infinitely risker and with significantly reduced capabilities.

          The F-35 is the start of a new doctrine(for non american airforces), not just a plane.

          • @[email protected]
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            38 months ago

            You forgot to mention the difference in maintenance costs. The F-35 is the most expensive fighter jet not only to acquire but also to maintain. It’s a money pit. It’s beautiful and 6th gen and all that’s grand. But it’s not good enough to justify the difference in prices.

      • @[email protected]
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        48 months ago

        The gripen is more agile than the f35 and capable of austere landings. Arguably more important traits than the ability to carry American nukes.

        • @[email protected]
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          28 months ago

          Being agile is kinda irrelevant if one can detect, lock and launch missiles tens of kilometers before the other plane can even detect it. Real life is not Top Gun. This is why everyone is buying the F-35.

          There is a reason why China is spending billions designing and making stealth fighters, bombers and drones.

          Agility isnt useless but it is highly overrated mostly by Russia, because they cant afford to produce(in relevant quantities) a stealth plane.

          • @[email protected]
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            28 months ago

            Russia has a different approach to the problem: Very aggressive jamming. Sure, you can see them before they can see you, but those missiles are gonna be much less effective at tracking and destroying targets.

            Stealth is being as quiet as possible, Russian jets are so damn “loud” that you don’t know which target is the real one.

            Once within range for a more traditional dogfight it’s basically a coin toss, mostly down to the pilots and the reliability of the plane’s hardware.

      • @[email protected]
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        28 months ago

        Alliance isn’t dying, just the US isn’t really part of it anymore. The need for alliance is all the more stronger and it’s imperative to remove all dependency on the US defense industry within that alliance. The US dropping military aid for Ukraine proves the US is a dishonourable country and shouldn’t be trusted for anything anymore. By all indications, the US is surrendering to Russia because Trump is afraid of Putin.

        The capabilities of the F-35 only represents the capability of an adversary now. We should use the ones we have to develop radar systems so we can shoot them down, and reverse engineer it’s capabilities to improve the fighter aircraft produced by the free world (which no longer includes the US).

  • @[email protected]
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    338 months ago

    As should europe. Clearly you can’t trust the USA anymore. What is the long-term prospect for spare parts?

    • @[email protected]
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      98 months ago

      From what I’ve heard you need a password that changes on the daily to start a F-35 and that the US are the only ones that can provide it. If that is true, it’s a tremendous oversite for any sovereign state.

      • @[email protected]
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        8 months ago

        wait…WHAT??? it doesn’t sound unlikely (tesla can be disabled remotely by tesla), but why would you buy it in such case? That’s why I voted the piracy party a couple of times. Not because I fully agree, but just to get people with at least some IT knowledge in

        • Bev's Dad
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          38 months ago

          Quick search seems to say that US planes might have the code thing but exported planes don’t. Although they do have control over updates and the code for everyone except for Israel that requested access to the code before buying.

      • @[email protected]
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        188 months ago

        “No u” come on with the childish shit. Yes we could trust Europe you dumb dumb. America literally wouldn’t exist without French support but you wanna be a contrarian so bad you just ignore everything and type out this moronic dribble

        • ANNOFlo
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          78 months ago

          You can even look into much closer history - look at the participants of Enduring Freedom. Nice to see how respected the life’s of our citizens, who died in Afghanistan or elsewhere, are to people like that.

      • ANNOFlo
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        138 months ago

        Kindly - shut up. All those countries you don’t trust followed America into Afghanistan, many into other wars. All lost citizens in support of American and joint interests, we did our part, as allies should. Guess we now know who is the real untrustworthy partner, and I doubt any of us will forget the betrayal anytime soon.

      • @[email protected]
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        38 months ago

        Idiot moron piece of shit retard. Go give Putin a footmassage and the keys to your house you bootlicking degenerate creature.

      • oortjunk
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        38 months ago

        Spoken like someone from the very very shallowest side of the gene pool. You’re a mouth and an anus and not much else.

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    8 months ago

    I don’t think Canada should be basing their defense decisions on the opinion and thin skin of the American government. Trying to force Canada, in any way, to purchase F35’s is fishy - not that that’s happening, of course.

    Canada’s interests are for Canada. Not them. Also, maybe Canada should reboot their ventures into the Avro Arrow program again. That’ll ruffle some feathers. Canadian engineered military = quite formidable, I think.

    • @[email protected]
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      138 months ago

      Canadian engineered military = quite formidable, I think.

      Here’s the bad news. It’s not. Sure, we’re good at peacekeeping, and we deploy to support (militarily) our allies. But we’re using US gear and we’re woefully underfunded because war budget has been declared a waste by even the parties who strut and posture about a strong military. We only needed to fulfill our NATO obligations, for decades, and even that has been a struggle we haven’t won consistently with the low budget.

      And while we’re skilled enough and gung-ho, and our 1st Pioneers are about the most scary bunch of lumberjack commandos you’ll ever see, there’s just so few of them, and again their gear has been called old and out of repair by every administration campaigning because the last one never did a thing about it.

      We’re gonna need a lot of funding and training and gear to make up the shortfall in people and powpow toys, and that’s a slice of gov pork that Milhouse is gonna latch onto knowing that he doesn’t need an army once he gives the country over. Justin doesn’t want to spend that, but he - and please God let it be Mark next - is really gonna have to.

      But how do we sell it to the “hair guy bad” flatlanders steeped in 12 years of hating Justin for not being a pseudo-aristocratic milquetoast conservative?

      • @[email protected]
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        18 months ago

        Here’s the bad news. It’s not.

        I guess what I was trying to get at was that it was at one point and that we could if we wanted to become that again. I wasn’t saying our current military is anywhere near the U.S military in any way, shape or form. I understand, quite clearly, just how out matched we are.

        I was only putting forward the idea (which I agree with you, on) that we should absolutely rearm and become independent of their technology. We supply them the critical materials for their military. They need it. Maybe we should rethink that (not a popular idea, though).

  • Franklin
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    ooh no, it might provoke the person who is back stabbing us at every conceivable opportunity

  • @[email protected]
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    Canada should cancel the F-35 contract and their are better fighter jets from reliable NATO allies. The F-35 is a $2 trillion USD turd that is still not 100%. If Canada continues to purchase US weapons, this would be like Poland buying weapons from Nazi Germany. I am hoping the US MIC becomes pissed off.

    • Maiq
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      138 months ago

      2 trillion is a fuckload of drones!

  • @[email protected]
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    208 months ago

    Hell yeah they should. We need to be able to defend ourselves against southern aggression, and the F35 is compromised based on what Trump himself threatened.